“O Allah! Send your blessings to the purified spirit and the holy body\nthat is placed in grave; the one with whom justice and righteousness was also\nburied; the one who was united with truth by oath, and did not breach his oath\nat any price; he always accompanied truth and faith”(1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These were poems recited by an\noppressed woman as a response to the angry yells of a brutal caliph. \u201cSuda\u201d is\nthe name of this oppressed woman whose rights and the rights of her tribe were\nignored by “Busr ibn Artaat”, the governor of Mu’awyiah. She did\nwhatever she could to take back her rights, but it did not work out. Thus, she\ndecided to go directly to Mu’awyiah in Shaam in person. Therefore, being highly\nmotivated, she traveled all the way from Hamdan to Shaam and entered the palace\nof Mu’awyiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After having a discussion with\nMu’awyiah about the battle of Siffin, Suda addressed Mu’awyiah by saying,”\nO Mu’awyiah! “Busr ibn Artaat” has become the governor over our tribe\nin your name and with your support; he killed our men and plundered our\nproperties. Moreover, he is trying to force us to say things which may Allah\nforbid us from saying. We do not want to cause chaos; however, our brave men\nare not entirely dead. You have two options now: either you dismiss him so that\nwe will thank you, or ignore my words so that we will come to know you\ncompletely”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mu’awyiah, who did not expect a woman\nto speak to him like this, became extremely angry and shouted,” Are you\nthreatening me? I will now order you to be sent on a rebellious camel to Busr\nibn Artaat so that he will treat you however he wishes”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this moment, everyone became\nsilent. All the entourage of Mu’awyiah lowered their heads, and they did not\ndare to say anything or ever look at each other; nonetheless, the only person\nwho was not afraid of the anger of the caliph was the same oppressed woman, who\nbroke the silence by reciting the following poems: “O Allah! Send your\nblessings to the purified spirit and the holy body that is placed in grave; the\none with whom justice and righteousness was also buried; the one who was united\nwith truth by oath, and did not breach his oath at any price; he was always\naccompanied by truth and faith”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After reciting the poems, Mu’awyiah\nasked her,” Who are you referring to?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suda replied,” Ali ibn Abi Talib”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mu’awyiah asked,” What has Ali\nsaid?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suda replied,” Once I had a\ndispute with one of his governors. So I went to him to complain, and I found\nhim praying. After he finished his prayers, he turned to me with kindness and\nasked,” Did you need anything?” I told him the story. Then, he became\nso upset that he broke into tears. Then, he stretched his hands towards the sky\nand said,” O Allah! You know that I never ordered my governors to oppress\npeople or to deprive them from their rights”. Then, he immediately took\nout a piece of skin and wrote on it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the\nName of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Indeed, clear proof has come to\nyou from your Lord; therefore, give full measure and weight, and do not\ndiminish to men their things, and do not make mischief on earth. What Allah has\nleft with you (of permissible wealth) is better for you if you are believers,\nand I am not a keeper over you (1). As soon as you finish reading my letter,\nbehold whatever is with you from us until someone comes to you from us to take\nover your position. Peace!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, he wrapped the letter and gave\nit to me. In this manner, Ali dismissed his governor due to his oppression\nagainst the people”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, Suda continued by saying,”\nThat was how Ali treated an oppressed, defenseless woman, and this is your\ntreatment!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mu’awyiah, who noticed that the\ngovernance of Imam Ali (PBUH) and the bravery and courage of the people\neducated by him had stunned even his entourage, wanted to show off his just behavior; therefore, he ordered one of\nhis secretaries to write a letter ordering that the woman be treated with\njustice and fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point, Suda said to him,”\nOnly me?! Never! This is an inappropriate and wicked act. If justice is to be\napplied, it has to be applied to all the people of the tribe; otherwise, I am\nno worthier than the others”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mu’awyiah moved a bit, looked at the\nwoman again, and responded,” Indeed! Ali ibn Abi Talib (PBUH) has trained\nyou like this to be courageous and dauntless before your rulers”. Then, he\nordered that the letter be written however Suda wished (2)”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The above is a\nselection taken from “The behavioral examples of Imam Ali (PBUH) and\neducational discussions”, by Muhammad Dashti (with some changes))<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd Website congratulates all\nMuslims and free thinkers of the world, especially you dear friend, upon 13th\nof Rajab, the birthday anniversary of the just Imam and truthful ruler, Amir al\nMu’minin, Imam Ali (PBUH)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
——————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- \nFrom the Holy Quran (7, 85) and (11, 86)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2- \nIhqaaq al-Haq, vol. 8, pp. 562-563<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“O Allah! Send your blessings to the purified spirit and the holy body that is placed in grave; the one with whom justice and righteousness was also buried; the one who was united with truth by oath, and did not breach his oath at any price; he always accompanied truth and faith”(1). These were poems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248],"tags":[18776,17778,18778,18566,18418,18775,18777,18779],"class_list":["post-3986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2010-06-26","tag-allah","tag-faith","tag-imam-ali","tag-occasion-letters","tag-the-embodiment-of-justice","tag-truth","tag-woman"],"yoast_head":"\n